American entertainer and television producer Merv Griffin was BOTD in 1925. Born in San Mateo, California to a middle-class family, he showed an early talent for music, singing and playing the piano for his church choir. He studied at the University of San Francisco, and began a career as a radio singer at 19. By the late 1940s, he was a popular radio and nightclub performer, selling three million copies of his recording of pop song I‘ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts. After being talent-spotted by Doris Day, he was signed to a film contract with Warner Brothers. His appearance in the 1953 romance So This is Love caused a minor scandal due to an open-mouthed kiss with his co-star Kathryn Grayson, in breach of the Hays Code. Dissatisfied with Hollywood, he bought out his contract and shifted his focus to television. In 1958, he became the host of TV game show Play Your Hunch, endearing himself to Eisenhower-era American with his corn-fed good looks and cheery, G-rated persona. He achieved international stardom as the host and producer of The Merv Griffin Show. Premiering in 1965, it was a ratings success running for nearly 20 years and winning 11 Emmy Awards. He also created the highly popular TV game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, making him one of television’s richest and most powerful producers. In 1974, he was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Griffin married Julann Wright in 1958, with whom he had a son, divorcing in 1976. A lifelong supporter of the Republican Party, he was close friends with Nancy and Ronald Reagan, and served as a pallbearer at Ronald’s funeral in 2004. Post-divorce, Griffin remained tight-lipped about his personal life and rumours about his sexuality, once jokingly describing himself as a “quarter-sexual” who would “do anything with anybody for a quarter”. In 1991, Deney Terrio, the host of Griffin’s show Dance Fever, sued him for sexual harassment, but the case was dismissed. Later that year, his bodyguard and driver Brent Plott filed a $200 million palimony suit, which was also dismissed. Griffin died in 2007, aged 82. A number of publications including The Hollywood Reporter ran stories outing Griffin as a closeted gay man, which in turn raised a public debate about the ethics of outing celebrities. In 2008, he was posthumously inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.